Mid-90s star visits practice and passes the torch to Earney

Those mid-1990s Ellsworth girls basketball teams were something special. In 1995, the Panthers won the Middle Border Conference, sparked by then-junior Charysse Minder, a three-sport athlete. In her senior year, the Panthers were edged out for the conference crown by powerhouse Durand. Minder was hard at work rewriting the Ellsworth girls basketball record book. In 1996, Minder set the mark for Panther girls basketball scoring with 1,358 points.

That record stood until late January, when senior Autumn Earney broke it. Minder stopped last week to congratulate Earner and chat with the 2021 Panthers.

Charysse lives in the Ellsworth area, where she is raising her son, JD, who’s 13.

“Who would have thought I’d have a son who’s a wrestler,” she said. She hasn’t been able to catch a lot of the Panther games this year, but she caught Earney’s record-breaking performance.

“We were on our way home from club wrestling practice and we had it on. It was neat to experience that with my son,” she said. “Congratulations to Autumn. She’s worked really hard and has done a lot of Ellsworth sports.”

Minder went on to play basketball on scholarship at St. Cloud State, where she started as a freshman. She finished her college athletic career at UW-Stout, where she also was able to play shortstop on the softball team, as well as leading the basketball team.

“Looking back, I visited a lot of colleges, a lot of bigger schools. I kind of wish I would have gotten away and gone somewhere else. I had a lot of opportunities,” she said. “I’ll be ready when my son is making his college decision with my insight into it. Try something new. Home will always be there. Mom will always be there.”

She has fond memories of her Panther days, with coaches Dave Berg and Mark Stoesz.

“You dream more about high school than you ever do about college,” she said. “Every year, Durand was the team to beat. We had a well-rounded team. We had seven players that could start at anytime. We were always in the running for conference. We were ranked in the state.”

They actually beat Durand both times that year. In playoffs, however, a ref inadvertently called Minder’s number for a foul, and she fouled out in the fourth quarter. Durand went on to win in double overtime.

“It was kind of a bittersweet moment,” she said. “The ref apologized to me after.”

Minder was the leading scorer in the Middle Border her senior year, averaging 18.6 points per game, and she dominated all over the court. At 5-11, she played guard, led in scoring and there’s one record of hers that she believes is safe for many years to come.

“I don’t think anyone will break my rebounding record,” she said.

She got the basketball bug at Ellsworth’s Saturday Morning Basketball program.

“Dave Berg really put our Ellsworth basketball program on the map,” she said. “You couldn’t wait for Saturday basketball. It was great. It was so strong on fundamentals, and then you’d play a game. It was so valuable to the program.”

“No offense to today’s coaching staff, but we had the best coaching staff in the state,” said Monder.

The scoring record of Karen Fenske only lasted for two years before Minder broke it.

“We were at home. It wasn’t made to be too much of a big deal. They did stop the game and announce it,” she said. She recalls the record-breaking points as a breakaway layup.

She’s been following Earney’s achievements, and is excited that she also wants to play both basketball and softball in college.

“What she’s done takes real effort. Some people don’t understand what you have to do when the doors are closed and nobody’s watching. I know she does the extra,” she said. “I’m happy for her. You want to see the record broken when you’re alive. It lasted 25 years.”